


things are gonna be okay (it just takes time)

by flymetomanchester



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Disney Princesses
Genre: Disney, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Support, Established Relationship, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Paralysis, Physical Therapy, Quadriplegic, References to Depression, Support
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-22 10:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17660795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flymetomanchester/pseuds/flymetomanchester
Summary: Belle and Mulan had only been dating for a few months. But when an accident leaves Belle completely paralyzed, things change. Both Belle and Mulan are faced with new hardships, but one thing is for certain. Things are gonna be okay, it just takes time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was commissioned to me by @wombatking on tumblr!

The world outside was nothing more than a dream. It was almost like it was lifted straight out of a painting and placed into real life. The sun was high, its rays shining down casting warmth to wherever they landed. Clouds were sparse, but there. They littered the sky, almost as if someone took a paintbrush and flicked them into life. As beautiful and as warm was the world outside, Belle was once again inside.

There weren't many times when you would find Belle in places other than where she usually was. School, the library, her dad's work to name a few. There was something about the familiarity of each spot she loved. It always settled well with her and made her stomach erupt in a pit of warmth. Mulan knew that as well. Which is why she wasn't shocked to walk into the library and find her girlfriend nose deep into a book.

Mulan and Belle had been dating for only a few months at this point, but still, neither would change a thing. The two met when Mulan's parents needed a tutor for their daughter, and Belle was one of their best options. See Mulan was more focused on sports than school. Whereas Belle was always nose deep in books and had brains of a genius some would say. In that sense? The two were polar opposites.

Mulan was one of the best players on the school's soccer team. She always managed to score the winning goal. There was never a time it seemed when she had a bad day playing on the field. Determined was her mindset out there. Nothing else. Other than soccer, Mulan was into martial arts. She managed to earn herself one of the highest belts that she could get. Granted that meant she broke from the girls' martial arts teams and over into the boys. But no one was disappointed when that happened. Mulan showed them how much she could prove herself, and how much of a talent, if you will, she had for these things.

Her parents, however, they weren't exactly on board with everything in the beginning. You see, Mulan's parents were more traditional. Traditional in the sense that they didn't want their daughter on sports teams. Nor did they want her doing anything that included a violent aspect to it. Fa Zhou was extremely disappointed at first. He wanted his daughter to go on to be great, but not in the way she was. Fa Li was upset at first as well. She had taught her daughter from a young age how to be the perfect wife. The perfect mother as well. Fa Li wanted Mulan to grow up taking quite good care of herself and present herself in a fashionable manner. A manner that would attract men, to which one, if they approved, would be good enough to someday marry their daughter.

But things just never worked that way. As Mulan grew older, she didn't care about traditional things in an aspect as a way of life. Instead of playing house and dress up and practicing the role her parents wanted her too, she wanted to run outside and explore. Mulan was always outside digging in the dirt, chasing animals and running around. It took a long time, but eventually, Fa Zhou and Fa Li came around to her.

Now they no longer scowled her for her choices and approve of them. It was hard for them to accept these things. But when they finally saw how happy Mulan was out on the field during her soccer games, and at the matches for martial arts, things changed. They saw this happiness inside of their daughter they never had before. Neither could rip that from her.

When Mulan came home and announced she had a girlfriend, things were different. " _Mulan, I've accepted that you play sports but this? No. I'm sorry_." Fa Zhou had told her. Fa Li had agreed and followed in her husband's mindset. It was only again when they saw how happy their daughter was, they could accept this. They thought it was a bit odd that Mulan would be with someone who was the opposite of herself, as Belle was, but they didn't question a thing from that day on.

Belle was the light of Mulan's life anymore. There was something about her from the moment that the two met. Something that pulled the two together quickly. Mulan didn't know what it was. There was just something.

Belle was more on the shy end as opposed to Mulan. Belle was the girl who stayed back in crowds at first until she got comfortable. There was never a day you would believe that Belle was in control rather than back behind the crowd with her nose in a book or a sketchbook. No one ever knew. She flipped between the two all the time. There was a more creative aspect to Belle she never intended to lose. Creative is a short way to describe how Belle was. Belle was always drawing small trinkets to build someday. Belle's father, Maurice, was the same way.

Maurice was different if you asked the wrong person. To Belle, he was a genius. At a young age, Belle lost her mother. So it was just her and her father. He did anything he could to make sure his daughter was happy.

Belle was more laid back and relaxed. She only really got excited when she was talking about something she was passionate about. Mulan learned this when Belle went on a twenty-five minute long rant about her favorite book and how the main character was so oblivious she was talking to the prince for chapters on end.

Tossing her bag over her shoulder, Mulan picked up the brown lunch bag from the table and headed down the hall. Most people never came to this end of the school, unless they had to go to the library. Mulan never went down this way until she got with Belle, but that was because Belle was always reading. Which is why it was once again no surprise when she walked into the library and saw Belle.

Belle's hair was pulled back in a bun, loose strands on curls falling around her face. She was wearing one of Mulan's favorite dresses on herself. It was one where the upper portion was white and gripped her in a tight fashion. But around her middle was a black belt, and the bottom portion of her dress frilled out. The under portion was a frilly skirt, and on top of that was a slim fabric. It was black and had roses scattered on it. Mulan wasn't big on dresses really, she preferred to wear jeans and her jersey any day. But she wouldn't deny on Belle they were cute.

Chuckling Mulan pushed her hair from her face and went and sat across from her. Belle didn't seem to notice at first, which wasn't surprising either.

"Is it that good?" Mulan asked.

Belle jumped and her eyes darted up to Mulan. "Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Scare me like that -" Belle placed her bookmark in between the pages and closed the book - "It's not nice."

Mulan laughed softly and shook her head, "Sorry sorry. But when you're reading it's hard to get your attention."

A light crimson shade of red crept onto Belle's cheeks. Mulan thought she was beautiful. Everything about her was. Mulan hadn't been able to find one flaw with her. She didn't think that she ever would.

"What's that?" Belle pointed to the brown paper bag on the table.

"Oh, here," Mulan took a container out that had something in it and handed it to Belle. "It's monkey bread. Jasmine made it for Aladdin and had a bunch left over and gave me some."

Belle's face lit up as she thanked Mulan for saving her some. Monkey bread, which is basically just small cinnamon roll bites, was one of Belle's favorites. She didn't have it often, so when she did she savored it. Mulan noticed how she would make it last, so she decided to get the recipe from Jasmine herself, to be able to make it for Belle when she wanted. As a little treat to spoil her girlfriend so to say.

Looking around the library, Mulan bit her lip. Despite Belle being her girlfriend, she never found herself comfortable in libraries. On the table she finally noticed was papers scattered. Some had scribbles on and others looked like drawings almost. Cocking her head slightly, Mulan looked at them.

"What are those?" Mulan asked, looking at Belle.

"Hm?"

"The papers. What are they?"

Looking up finally, Belle looked at Mulan and then the table. "Oh! Oh, I was coming up with doodles for little trinkets to make at papa's shop."

Chuckling Mulan picked one up and looked at it. It was definitely Belle's scribbles on it. It looked like there was a sketch of a spoon on the paper, with what looked like some sort of very small fan attached to it. Leaning over the table, Belle looked at the paper.

"This," Belle pointed to the fan, "I don't have a name for it yet, but it'll help cool your food quicker!"

Mulan listened for a bit as Belle went on with her trinkets. Some were simple things from bookcases to things that were a bit odd, to say the least. Mulan wasn't sure what to think when her girlfriend showed her blueprints for a device that didn't seem to have much use or value for that matter. But it was making Belle happy, and that's all that had mattered.

For about an hour, the two sat in almost blissful silence. Mulan watched Belle as she went back to reading her book. She had no idea how Belle was so intrigued by a world printed on paper. That was just her thing she supposed. And that was okay.


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Belle asks softly and pushes the brim of her large and circular glasses up. Looking over she looked at Mulan. She set her pen down on the bed and it rolled down beside her leg.

Mulan was laying on her back, with her feet up against her wall staring at the ceiling. Belle was starting to wonder what was wrong because she kept making noises. It was almost like a pained groan. She didn’t know why either. Typically Mulan didn’t act like this.

“I’m gonna fail my finals. My dad is gonna be so angry,” She sighed. Mulan’s books were beside her and open to random pages. Belle noticed her notes looked like scribbles.

Biting her lip, Belle sat her notebook to the side. Running her fingers through the brown curls on her head, she grabbed a hair and pulled her back up into a messy bun. Carefully, she moved things to the side and moved Mulan so her head was resting in her lap. Mulan just stared up at her as Belle started to run her fingers gently through her hair.

Compared to Belle’s thick and curly brown hair, Mulan’s was usually just straight and naturally jet black. Belle was convinced at first that she dyed her hair, but much to her dismay it wasn’t.

Closing her eyes, Mulan sighed once again. “Dad is going to be mad.”

“Fa Zhou?” Belle asked. “I don’t think he will be Lolli,” Belle said softly. a small smile came on her face seeing Mulan’s smile light up at the nickname. Lollipops were one of Belle’s favorites when she was younger. Now that Mulan was her favorite, she decided to call her lolli. It was something sweet and meant something to Belle, and Mulan adored that.

Mulan shrugged in defeat, “I don’t understand the stuff. I’m not book smart like you.”

“Hey,” Belle said swatting her arm gently and laughing, “I resent that. Even though it’s true.” Leaning down, Belle kissed Mulan’s forehead. “I’ll help you okay?”

The two sat in silence for a while. Neither had to speak. They were at the point where silence was comforting. That was okay. It was them.

“Where do you see yourself in the future?” Mulan asked softly after a few minutes.

Looking down at her Belle watched her a moment again. She made no attempt to open her eyes.

“I don’t know exactly,” Belle started to say, “Hopefully still with you. Maybe taking over Papa’s shop and owning a small house with a nice little yard.”

Nodding slightly, Mulan opened her eyes and was met with Belle’s brown eyes. Mulan swears when the sun hit her eyes just it was like golden pools of honey. Smiling Belle leaned down and kissed her gently. To Belle, Mulan. tasted of sweet cherries, fresh ones at that. But to Mulan? To her, Belle tasted of the sweetest vanilla treats and cupcakes and perfection. Nothing was wrong with her. Nothing ever would be as well.

The two continued to kiss for a while. Eventually, Belle’s hand made its way to cup Mulan’s cheek, her thumb rubbing back and forth gently. Neither of them heard Belle’s father, Maurice, walking down the hall towards her room.

Maurice was Belle’s whole world. Both lost her mother when Belle was young. Despite Belle not really remembering her, she always wondered what she was like. Maurice didn’t talk much about her, and Belle knew why. Sixteen years later and it still hurt to talk about. Belle didn’t mind though. She could tell her mom was her papa’s entire world.

“This is studying?” Maurice said, walking into the room and chucking.

Belle jumped slightly, as did Mulan. Sitting up quickly, Belle could feel the heat in her cheeks. Mulan saw as well as Maurice and both chuckled. Mulan’s laugh was soft and delicate. It didn’t carry far. Yet, Maurice’s laugh even though he didn’t try, was loud and bellowing almost. It was oddly in a comforting way for Belle.

“I- hi,” Belle stuttered and rubbed the back of her head as Mulan sat up, “Papa.”

Maurice chuckled again, his stomach giggling as he laughed. Maurice was on the short side compared to Belle. He was a bit shorter than her, and round as well. He had quite the tummy and tended to wear the same theme of clothes. Which was his series of a green shirt and dark green trousers. It was odd, to say the least, but, Belle didn’t question him.

“How are you Maurice,” Mulan asked with a smile on her face. Her and Maurice got along well, thankfully. He adored her as well as he did Belle.

“Oh, I’m good,” He smiled at her and nodded looking at Belle. “What I interrupted your “studying” for is the shop is gonna be closed tomorrow, so no need to stop by after school.”

Belle nodded. Maurice never closed the shop unless he was feeling down and Belle never asked why. He never told her anyways.

“Milkshakes then?” Mulan asked her.

“Always.”

-

“I still can’t believe I passed!” Mulan said for the hundredth time. Quite literally as well. Belle started counting after the first hour of her saying it the other day. But she didn’t mind. She was proud Mulan passed and now they would be seniors in the fall. It was exciting, to say the least. “We’re seniors!” Mulan exclaimed, jumping up and down slightly.

All Belle could do was laugh as she slipped her hand into Mulan's. Mulan's hand was warm in hers and Belle adored that. There was nothing more she loved than to hold her girlfriend's hand whenever she could. Something she wanted to do to the end of time.

Walking down the street, the two headed back towards Belle's house. It was no secret that the two planned on hanging out most of the time during the summer. Now that they were out of school they had more time to themselves. Belle still would be going to her father's shop to help him throughout the summer. There was no doubt about that. Tinkering with things and building little trinkets was a part of Belle at this point. Mulan would sometimes sit in the lobby of the shop and look at things while Belle helped Maurice. Other times she would hang out in the back with Belle and watch what she was doing. Despite that fact that she didn't understand a thing.

Messing with her house key, which she wore as a necklace on a golden chain sometimes, Belle walked up the steps to her house. Unlocking the door the two went inside. Turning the lights on Belle placed her key on the rack hanging, while Mulan raided her fridge.

"Will there ever be a day you don't go straight towards the food," Belle giggled and pulled a chair out and sat on it.

"Nope," Mulan said, her voice slightly muffled by the few grapes she had in her mouth. Standing up, Milan walked over and sat the bag of grapes on the table and hopped up on a chair. "You should know me by now."

"Unfortunately," Belle joked and shook her head, looking through the window.

Mulan watched her for a moment. There was a slight change in her attitude as she stared out the window and Mulan knew exactly what it was. Belle hated being inside her house if she didn't have to be. Mulan knew she preferred to be either in the library, Maurice's shop or outside somewhere doing something.

The two sat there a bit in silence. Mulan eating the grapes she stole from Belle's fridge. Belle messing on her phone for a little bit and then going back to stare out the window. Belle was trying to pretend she was content sitting there, but both her and Mulan knew that was a lie. She was dying to go outside, the beach especially. Today was one of those days when everyone would be leaving early to go do whatever else there was to do in the city. It was the perfect opportunity for her and Mulan to go do something else together.

“Okay-“ Mulan sat the bag of grapes to the side and ran her fingers through her hair - “What do you want to do?”

Looking at her, Belle hummed. Mulan knew she wouldn’t straight come out and say what was the matter, or what she wanted to do. Belle was stubborn sometimes.

“I-“

“And don’t say nothing either.” Mulan cut her off, “I know you better than that.”

Blushing slightly, Belle rubbed her eyes, careful of the makeup on her face. Unlike Mulan, Belle wore makeup. Well, Mulan rarely wore it. Only for special occasions. Belle wore at least concealer every day. It was nothing over the top or covering her full face. Just a small touch. Most days though on her eyes, Belle had a light yellow shadow as a base and gold shimmers covering her lids with a winged liner. On her lips, she usually added a slight touch of a pink or red shade to enhance her natural lip color. It was never anything too much, just something to make herself comfortable.

Raising her brow, Mulan watched her avoid the question. Something all too familiar with Belle. Belle was smart, and sometimes that was the problem. She knew just how to avoid things because of her brains. The only downfall that Mulan would say to her being smart.

“Fine,” Belle said and caved after a few minutes of Mulan staring, “I wanted to go down to the beach.” Playing with the hem of her dress, Belle looked down.

“Okay,” Mulan said causing Belle to look up at her confused. Standing up Mulan held her hand out. “Come on, we’ll go down.”

A smile crept onto her face, causing her dimple to pop out just slightly. Grabbing Mulan’s hand, she stood and followed her back to Belle’s room.

“Come on, I’m sure you have a bathing suit I can wear so we don’t have to waste time and go back to my house.”

“I have like fifty,” Belle laughed, “I’m sure I have one for you.”

Turning the light on, Belle opened her closet door and walked in. Clothes were scattered on the floor, along with a few books and other random objects. It was very much Belle.

Mulan watched her, and joy filled her. She loved seeing Belle excited over small things like this. It showed her true colors and how she appreciated small things. In this world, nothing bad could happen.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! despite this fic taking so long to come out, due to personal things happening, i had so much fun writing it! if your interested in commissioning me or want to see what else i've written you can check me out on tumblr [@rwdaf!](https://rwdaf.tumblr.com) updates will be every sunday for now!


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